The latest news stories for Eugene-Springfield and around the state of Oregon from WillametteValleyMagazine.com
COVID-19 numbers: the number of cases in the state has reached 8,341. The death toll remains at 202.
MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020
Willamette Valley Weather
Today Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. South southwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Tuesday A chance of rain or drizzle before noon, then a slight chance of showers after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday Mostly Cloudy, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming north northwest 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.
Friday Sunny, with a high near 77.
Saturday, Independence Day Sunny, with a high near 79.
Today’s Headlines
It’s official. All in Oregon must wear a mask inside indoor spaces, beginning Wednesday.
Gov. Kate Brown announced this afternoon that she will require Oregonians to wear face masks everywhere in the state — not just a handful of select counties — to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Brown said her new order takes effect Wednesday, and requires people in Oregon to wear a mask whenever they’re in a public indoor space, such as grocery stores, gyms and shopping malls.
Brown had been hesitant to require Oregonians to cover their mouths and noses for weeks and weeks, saying the cloth face coverings are helpful in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and should be worn. Brown recommended that the state’s residents wear face coverings as of late, but repeatedly declined to require them — saying she had confidence that Oregonians would do the right thing.
Then last Wednesday, after it became clear that coronavirus cases in Oregon are surging, Brown began requiring masks in seven counties making up about 55 percent of the state’s population. Those counties were Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Marion, Polk, Hood River and Lincoln.
Again, all Oregonians are to wear masks at indoor spaces in public, beginning Wednesday.
Eugene summer camps get creative in age of COVID-19
Camp organizers are adapting and improvising as the first week of summer camps in the area started giving kids much-needed time with other kids.
Eugene Recreation Services has what it is calling “classic” camps at three sites this summer: Amazon Park, Morse Ranch and the Cuthbert Amphitheater. There are 10 groups total at the camps, limited to 10 kids per group.
With concerts canceled this summer, the Cuthbert was added as a camp site to increase capacity to the system, which has gone down this summer by about 50 percent.
“When Cuthbert came up, it was a wonderful opportunity because it’s enclosed,” said Eugene Recreation Services Camp Supervisor Gina Tafoya. “It’s already safe. We have a way of creating boundaries for the public already so we don’t have to put little cones out to say ‘Don’t cross this Imaginary line.’
“It really takes a lot of the pressure off, because running camp and trying to keep all the COVID protocols in place is a lot of extra work and details.”
Campers are able to play on the sloped lawn and explore the nearby area. In the heat of the day, sprinklers are set up for kids to cool off.
On a sunny day last week, camper Jack Youngblood cranked on his air guitar while getting doused on the stage where rock ‘n’ rollers would normally play at the concert venue. Other camp-goers scampered through the mist.
Occasional shouts from instructors reminded kids to keep their distance. While the verbal reminders are part of the strategy to keep kids apart, a summer pool toy is proving to be a key tool when it comes to getting kids to understand what six feet of space looks like in the time of COVID-19.
“Pool noodles are king,” Tafoya said. The spongy staple of watery fun are just the right length to teach kids about keeping their distance. The noodles are one of many strategies the camps has employed in the challenge of helping kids stay safe while still having a good time.
The Eugene Family YMCA also started its summer care program, expanding its school-year program that focused on care for the children of essential workers. The Y has four sites where there are 15 groups of 10 kids.
The children stay within the same small groups all week, enabling the staff to work with them closely in a safe environment, said Vice President of Operations and Youth Development Director Holly Kriz-Anderson.
New modeling of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 is spreading more rapidly in Oregon, according to the latest model released today by the Oregon Health Authority and the Institute for Disease Modeling.
The model, which is based on data through June 18, offers three projections — optimistic, moderate and pessimistic — predicting that daily case levels could rise as much as 20 percentage points. The modeling assumes that hospitalizations from COVID-19 remain stable and testing remains at its present level of approximately 4,000 a day: OHA uses this modeling for data analysis and planning purposes and releases it on a bi-weekly basis.
Gov. Kate Brown says she’ll call a second special legislative session this summer to fix a state budget wrecked by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis and wants to use coronavirus relief funds to help support the Black community and working people.
The Oregon Legislature wrapped up its first special session Friday after passing bills dealing with police accountability and the pandemic. At a Saturday news conference, Brown said she would wait to call another special session to see if federal lawmakers approve assistance for local governments. She said she may call lawmakers back to Salem in late July or early August. The Oregon Senate on Friday unanimously passed a bill that makes it easier to uphold discipline against police by lessening the power of arbitrators. The measure, which moves to the House, is one in a package of police reform measures before Oregon lawmakers during the special session that began this week. It passed the upper chamber following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed and died last month after a white Minneapolis police officer held a knee to his neck. Currently, police unions can call upon an arbitrator to review discipline handed down to a police officer and overturn disciplinary decisions.
Arbitrators have reversed high-profile officer dismissals in Oregon before. Senate Bill 1604 restricts what arbitrators can do in disciplinary cases and binds them to rule within the discipline guide.
After the second day of the 2020 special legislative session, Democrats in the Oregon House of Representatives are said to be happy with the passage of a bill that would end the practice of suspending Oregon driver licenses for overdue fines and fees.
House Bill 2020 also declares an emergency, making it effective immediately if passed and signed into law. Democrats cited the Oregon Law Center, which found more than 334,000 license suspensions over the past decade. Many of those were for people who could not pay court fines and fees from other infractions, perpetuating “cycles of debt and poverty,” and restricting the ability for someone to go to work, school, or the doctor. According to data from a recent Oregon Criminal Justice Commission report, Black and Latinx people are disproportionately stopped, ticketed, charged, and convicted for traffic infractions.
Oregon stands out on the West Coast for the way its voting districts are drawn. Unlike neighbors California, Idaho and Washington, redistricting in Oregon is a political process decided by the party in power.
The threat of gerrymandering is high. Executive Director of Common Cause Oregon Kate Titus says politicians typically draw districts behind closed doors using elaborate data.
Titus says a coalition of groups is looking to change that. Signatures are being collected for an initiative to create an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission. Its backers have until July 2nd to collect about 150-thousand signatures. Critics of the idea say creating the commission would leave out some marginalized groups.
…For complete details on these and other stories see today’s Herald & News. Wynne Broadcasting and the Herald and News…stronger together to keep you informed.
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